Unlike U2 and Depeche Mode, Simple Minds couldn't survive the 90's. They're mainly remembered for their Eighties hit "Don't You" from the Breakfast Club soundtrack. Following the release of a succession of rather unnoticed and forgettable albums, the band is back with Cry, its most satisfying work since the Street Fighting Years back in 1989.
Once a pioneer of synthetic music with classics such as New Gold Dream and Sparkle in the Rain, the band had relegated keyboards to the background from the mid-80's to the mid-90's before going back to electronic music with the unconvincing <Néapolis and Neon Lights.
While not flawless, Cry puts Simple Minds back on track. The album opens with "Cry" a bewitching single whose keyboards take you back to New Gold Dream with a sound that's trendy again thanks to the new electro wave. "Spaceface" is a signature catchy track on which Jim Kerr's voice slides perfectly. While "New Sunshine Morning" doesn't really stand out, the following track, "One Step Closer", grips you. The band goes acoustic on the mellow "Face in the Sun" before reconnecting you with techno-pop through the contagious and fluid "Disconnected". "Lazy lately" and "Sugar" aren't icing on the cake but "Sleeping Girl" is like an old girlfriend from the 80's that you don't want to let go. "Cry Again", an acoustic version of "Cry", plays it well on the soft side. You won't be chained to "Slave Nation" but the instrumental "The Floating World" is a welcome technoish ending that is reminiscent of the "Theme For Great Cities".
Now that every keyboard geek in town is playing with his clavinova, why not give Simple Minds the chance they deserve with Cry?
Simple Minds Albumtitle
